LSU Football Players Say Sticking Together, Improving Each Day the Focus After 1-2 Start
Glen Logan understands what it's like to lose a few games. He was on the team when LSU got off to a rocky 2-2 start in 2016 and subsequently fired Les Miles. He was on the team when the Tigers lost to Troy 24-21 the following year, perhaps the lowest point of the Ed Orgeron era.
Logan knows better than most what gets a team through a rough time is making sure the players don't turn on one another and ultimately stick together through thick and thin. The goal, getting back to playing the brand of football that Logan and the players know they can.
"In the past, around this time after losing two games morale would be down but now we're more optimistic," Logan said. "We believe in each other, we believe in coach O and we all have faith in each other. It's a rough patch that we've been going through but we'll get through it."
From a defensive perspective, Logan knows that everyone across the board needs to start making improvements. It’s been a rough three weeks overall but the 24 hours after the Missouri loss were particularly painful.
"Yesterday we watched film as a defense, we looked at ourselves in the mirror and we got everything fixed," Logan said. "Communication errors, technique errors, pretty much everything and we're just moving forward, getting ready for practice and focusing on the basics. Communicating, tackling and playing our brand of football that we've played in the past."
Outside of possibly safety JaCoby Stevens, Logan doesn't believe there's been a leader on the defense that's been more vocal than he has about the brand of LSU defense that's come to be expected.
LSU doesn’t give up 623 yards through the air to KJ Costello. It doesn’t allow Missouri to hang nearly 580 yards of total offense just two weeks later. It’s not in the DNA of what an LSU defense has come to be known for.
"As a veteran, I have to be more vocal, lately I've been more vocal, just helping young guys keep their heads up," Logan said. "There are a lot of people that haven't been in this situation, they're not used to losing. As a veteran you have to be able to pick them up and I've been way more vocal and one of the loudest guys on the field."
Logan said that one of the goals this week against Florida would have been to not only clean up some of the miscommunication errors but to find that confidence that has been a staple for LSU defenses of the past.
"I think we'll do that this week but it all goes back to communication, we're just not communicating well and when you're not communicating, you can't get that swagger back," Logan said. "Once we get that communication going, we'll have that chip on our shoulder every game."
Receiver Terrace Marshall has had anything but a struggling start to the season. The junior No. 1 option for the LSU offense has dropped a few passes but has mostly played exemplary in helping the Tigers average 467 yards and 39 points per game. Marshall has recorded 424 yards and seven touchdowns, good for second and first in each category respectively.
Yet his gargantuan numbers and personal success haven't translated to wins, which is all he is concerned with at this point.
"Personally, I'm just doing what I can to help contribute to the team," Marshall said. "I'll look at the stats later but I'm just trying to continue to be a leader in the locker room and help make a big impact."
While the offense has been successful at times in 2020, two areas where the unit has struggled as a whole is in the redzone and on third down. The Tigers went 0-for-10 on third downs in the loss to Missouri and couldn't punch in the game winning score on four straight attempts down by the goal line.
Marshall said it doesn't matter the down, the plan remains consistent.
"We just gotta be more aggressive, we gotta execute," Marshall said. "When the chance comes we need to be better with execution in those situations."
